The prayer you need to pray

(The following is an edited extract from the message that was preached on March 24, 2019.)

One thing that Christians are always doing, is praying. Praying is perhaps the most important thing we do each day.

When I was a little kid, in Australia, I prayed every night that I could go to Disneyland. Then I grew up, I went to Disneyland, and realized that I needed a new prayer. So, I prayed that I could get accepted to a good university. After that, I prayed that God would help me find a good wife. Then I prayed I could get a good job. Now I pray that I can do my job well.

We always take prayer requests here on Sunday, and we pray for people we know. We usually pray for healing and health issues. Occasionally we pray for other things, like finances and workplace troubles.

We pray for a whole lot of different things. But today we’re going look at a prayer that is perhaps the most important prayer you can pray, either for yourself or for someone else. This is perhaps the most important prayer you should be praying. This is a prayer that gets right to the heart of the Christian life. It is one of the most wonderful prayers in scripture.

This prayer is found in Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians 3: 14-21.

Paul is praying for the people in the church. Now, what is he praying for? Well, that’s clearly written at the end of his prayer:

“… that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

That is the goal. That is what he’s really praying for. Everything that is God … the very essence of God … can fill you so full that there is no part of you that does not have God.

Wouldn’t you love that? So that whenever you saw something, you saw it how God sees it. So that whenever you speak something, you say some words to your next door neighbors or the people you work with, you use words that God would use. So that whenever you do anything, you do it just how God would do it. Because every part of you is filled with God.

How is that going to happen?

Well, this prayer shows us how this can happen. Let’s look at it.

Firstly, you need to be strengthened.

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being" 

You need to be strengthened so that you can serve God. Each of us has a calling. We each have a job, a special job that only we can do. God has prepared work for you to do in your neighborhood, your school, your workplace. You need strength to do that. You need to be strengthened so that you can be holy. So that you can resist temptation.

So you need to be strengthened. And what happens when you are strengthened?

“So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.”

As you’re being strengthened, Christ comes and dwells in your heart.

When Christ dwells in your heart, it doesn’t mean just that you have Christ in your heart. I mean, all Christians have that. This is something more. It means that Christ gets settled, he gets comfortable, he makes his home within you. And that can happen when you have been strengthened by the Holy Spirit.

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,"

The love of Christ is so wide and long and high and deep.

It is so wide, that it covers all nations and peoples, from Japan to Australia to India to the USA. It covers all kinds of people, from rich to poor, men and women, young and old. It’s so wide.

The love of Christ is so long, that it continues for all time, for an eternity. Those who are loved by Christ will never ever lose that love. Not tomorrow, not next year, not 10 billion years into the future.

And the love of Christ is so high that it raises his people right up to the heights of heavenly peace and joy.

The love of Christ is so deep, it doesn’t matter how low you’ve sunk into sin and misery. Christ’s love will reach you there.

And it is Paul’s prayer that we would grasp how wide and long, deep and high is this love.

"... and to know this love that surpasses knowledge"

Do you have that kind of knowledge of Christ’s love? Do you know that Christ loves you, because you read it in a book? Or have you experienced that love, in a personal and meaningful way?

That is a prayer that we should be praying.

I want to share with you a great passage in the Old Testament. It’s from Deuteronomy, chapter 6. And this is directly related to what we’ve been talking about today. Here it is: (Deuteronomy 6:20-21)

“In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the decrees and statutes and ordinances that the LORD our God has commanded you?” then you are to tell him …”

What do you think comes next? So, your son or someone you know asks you, “You’re a Christian, right? You live your life in the way God wants you to live. You go to church, you pray, you read the bible, you’re always trying to be kind and forgiving to people … Why is that? Why do you do that?”

How would you answer that question?

Some people might say:

- Oh, it’s just a habit. I’ve always gone to church.

- Well, I don’t want to go to hell when I die.

- You know, all my friends are in church, and we enjoy hanging out.

That might be how some people answer that question. But how would a real follower of Christ answer that question? Here it is …. 

 “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.”

We were slaves. We were working hard all day, living in terrible conditions. We had no rest, we had no peace. But God loved us. God loved us so much that he moved his mighty hand and brought us out of slavery. And we have this experience of his love, and that gives us the joy and the strength to follow him every day.

Do you have an experience of the love of God?

Can you say … my life was a complete mess. I had no hope. I was heading nowhere. I was a slave to my boss at work … or I was a slave to my mother or my father, trying to please them … I was a slave to my own desires for wealth or beauty or popularity.

But God loved me. God saved me from all of that because he loved me. And I have this amazing experience, and this tremendous knowledge of how much Christ loves me.

Because when you know that God loves you, it changes everything. And you and I are loved so much. Do you know that? Have you experienced that? Because it is a fact that the Lord loves you and I so much.

There are some Christians who seem filled with the fullness of God. These people seem so at peace, they have a deep joy, they’re not worried about this or that, they’re so kind and loving to others. And then, there are Christians who are not like that at all. What’s the difference between them?

Those amazing, God-filled Christians have a deep experience and a knowledge of how much God loves them. That is where the difference is.

You can have that. God loves you so much, and he doesn’t want to hide it. The Lord wants you to know it. And if you want to know it, if you want to have that experience, here is what you should be doing: pray this prayer. The prayer that we’ve just be talking about.

Pray that you would be strengthened.

Pray that Christ would dwell in your heart.

Pray that you would know how great Christ’s love is.

But also pray that you would know that love, that you would experience it and know it in a very deep and personal way.

And as you pray these things, believe that you are being filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."​​​​​​​